Wrapping up the Year

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Me and my books

It was a year today that I anxiously opened the box that came by UPS moments before my hub and I were heading out the door for Christmas Eve dinner with family. Copies of my very first book I published, Conflicted Hearts, were in that box. I couldn’t wait to open it.

I remember taking off my jacket and tearing the box apart. I also remember the elation I felt when I held my very own books in my hand for the first time. As tears slid out from the corners of my eyes, I couldn’t remember another time I felt so proud. I reminisced over the year before when I began writing the book and the long months I put into revisions, editing, working on a book cover, formatting, and finally, publishing. It was a long tedious process and I had done it.

Now another year has passed. As I look back on my accomplishments, I sometimes feel that I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to. I know it was a difficult year as we spent many of my husband’s free days looking for a place to move to and when we finally found the right place, the game was on to get things in order and ready my own home for sale and pack.

This year my husband buried a daughter, a sister, a niece and I buried my mother. There were many difficult times in our life to overcome. When I look back on the year and feel as though I didn’t accomplish all I wanted to, I was kindly reminded by some good friends of all that I had accomplished.

When I really thought about it and allowed myself to take some credit, I realized how full my year was. I came back from winter vacation and began revisions on my second book, while writing my third book. My husband and I took a little jaunt to Arizona to check out the place we loved which inspired us to sell our home so we could begin spending winters there next year. By mid October I had become the published author of three books within one year, did many interviews with some wonderful writers and bloggers, kept up my blogging, got my house ready to sell, packed up my house and almost finished writing my fourth book.

No, I didn’t perfect my media kit yet, and no, my plans to publish my fourth book by year’s end didn’t pan out and those kinds of things that ruin my self-imposed deadlines really tend to eat away at me. So I am learning patience and learning that I am only human and I cannot take on everything at once single handedly.

I am moving the day after New Years. I will unpack for a few weeks, then pack up for my longgggggggg awaited winter vacation, plop my azz on a beach and exhale. I will return mid February and then I will get my writing back on track, at regular daily word count writes, complete my fourth book and aim to have it published by late spring and continue working on my fifth book, the sequel to Conflicted Hearts, which will take me the better part of the year to complete.

Life goes by us very quickly, and especially for writers who look for stolen hours or minutes sometimes, to put their craft to work. I’ve lost count how many writers ask for the same one thing—more hours in a day. It’s great to take stock of our lives sometimes when we are always rushing to get on to the next thing. I know I have been guilty of this many times, always worrying about what I have to do and giving myself deadlines to do them, and finding life sometimes gets in the way of our good intentions and we have to revise our plans. But sometimes we need to stand still, take a pause and take a look of what we’ve accomplished and stop being so hard on ourselves.

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To all my friends and readers here, I wish you all a very happy holiday season and wish you all only happiness and health, foremost, for the coming year and always. Be kind to others, but remember to be kind to yourselves. Live Laugh Love, and Don’t Forget to Breathe!

 

As a side note, I’d like to inform you all that Words We Carry is on Holiday Sale starting today until Dec. 28th. This is my own promotion, not a kindle promo, so the sale is available globally.

Merry Bookmas!

24 thoughts on “Wrapping up the Year”

    1. Thank you Marian for your friendship and readership. It’s always nice to come to my page and find your lovely comments here. Blessings to you and yours at this joyous time. Merry Christmas.<3

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  5. You’re so right about not being so hard on ourselves. As much as we plan on accomplishing, life around us that takes us away from our plans – at least for awhile. And the lessons we learn are patience, acceptance and love for who we are at the moment.
    As you spend these last days in your home, may they be filled with calmness and joy for what awaits you and your husband. May 2015 be filled with tons of blessings for you to count. 🙂

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    1. Carol, it’s so kind of you to drop by and read in your busy time as well. Thank you so much for your well wishes it means a lot. I hope you are enjoying your holidays and pay heed to my post, and take a breath, pat yourself on the back for all you have accomplished as well. Wishing you peace, love, health and success in the new year and always ❤

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  6. I think you deserve a nice long rest! You accomplished more in one years than seems possible! I hope the move goes smoothly (thinking positive!) and your unpacking, too! Happy Holidays, Debby!

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  7. Please let me say how sorry I am for you and your husband for all of the grief and sorrow that you are experiencing. We never raise our hands for such things, but they still seem to arrive at our front door. I am very proud of you, for all that you do. I have been trying to get my days in order, too. My blog has suffered; my personal church ministry has done better. Please let me know how things progress, or if they don’t progress. I will keep you, your husband, and your family in my prayers. May our Lord Jesus richly bless syou.

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    1. Thank you so kindly for your words. Life can certainly throw punches at us that we must deal with, yet continue on with the daily goings on in our lives. If we don’t keep moving with them, we may surely get lost in the rubble. Thank you again. 🙂

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      1. Thank you for your comment. Please know that every day, I and many other people in the blog world have you in their thoughts. You are very important to many people. You are very much a blessing. Thanks for being you. Please have a Jesus-filled day.

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    1. Thanks a lot Tess. It seems when we are constantly busy we don’t notice the daily accomplishments until we stop to catch our breath. 🙂 Thanks again for the well wishes and wishing you happiness and health and everything else good in the coming year and always. ❤ ❤

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